Coke oven structure



Jan. 4, 1944. ,1. BECKER 2,338,618

COKE OVEN STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 5, 1942- 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Josemr Bee/(5R.

A2. ATTORNEY.

Jan; 4, 1944. J. BECKER COKE OVEN STRUCTURE Filed. Oct. 3, 1942 4Sheets-Sheet 2 1 mvamon Jasxspa Bee/"2.

ATTORNEY.

Jan. 4, 1944. J. BECKER 2,338,513

7 COKE OVEN STRUCTURE Filed 001;. 5, 1942 4 ShGtS-SIIBGI. 4

mvamon JOSEPH BECKER. BY i z 7%TTORNEY.

' Patented .1 4, 1944 umrsmsrAr -ss mrsur OFFICE 2,338,618 a I a COKEOVEN STRUCTURE Joseph Becker, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor toKenpars-Company, a-corporation of Delaware The present improvementrelates to horizontal coke ovens and is more'especially concerned withimprovements in the construction and support of the operating benchestherefor that are located at either side of a coke-oven battery justbelow the oven-soles and extend longitudinally along the battery-faces.Amongst the functions of said benches is to provide support for thetrackage wherealong heavy oven-operating equipment, such as thecoke-guides, door-machines, and the like, is normally propelled fromoven to oven.

structurally the bench of a horizontal cokeoven battery comprises anoperating platform that is the top or root of an arcade-like passagewayextending its entire length. Itsis formed from a series of alignedportal-like members each comprising a horizontally-disposed beam thatextends parallelly of the coking chambers and is supported at itsopposite ends by means including spaced vertically-disposed members. Ofthese latter members, those remoter from the battery-face are. commonlyanchored in the ground or have their lower ends resting on concretepiers that are themselves so secured. Heretofore it has been commonpractice to employ adjacent-portions of the battery buckstays themselvesfor the support of the inner ends of the said horizontally-disposedbeams and in such construction their said inner ends have been commonlydirectly attached to the said buckstays, and, in some instances, theyhave been additionally supported by such auxiliary means as rigidinclined bracing-members that each engage the lower portion of abuckstay and a said horizontal beam at some point intermediate its ends,thereby still further decreasing the possibility of inde pendentmovement of the one in respect of the other.

The primary purpose of the buckstays of a coke-oven battery is to retainat all times and under all operating conditions stability of alignmentof the masonry comprising it, so as to prevent any opening up of jointswhereby gases can undesirably short-circuit through the structure. Inthe external structural frame-work for the battery and of which thebuckstays form a part, the latter are assembled in combination withadjustable resilient means adapted to provide a restricted independenceof movement between the buckstays and the masonry while maintaining apredeterminable buckstay pressure on said masonry irrespective ofitstemperature at any one time; there is thus alimited degree of playpossible between the masonry and its restraining buckstays.

Vibrations set up in the buckstays by propelling the above-mentionedheavy operating machinery along a battery-bench that is supported bysaid buckstays are naturally transmitted to the masonry and are notconducive to maintenance of its integrity and the effect of suchvibrations is I amplified as a result of the said resilient meansnecessarily provided between the masonry and the buckstays forregulating the pressure therebetween. In addition to vibrationsengendered by travel of oven-operating machinery along the bench, themasonry and buckstays are also subjected to the horizontal thrustoccurring during the. operation of pushing coke from the ovenchambersand the accumulated effects of which are exhibited to greater degree atthe battery's coke-side often by extensive bowing of the buckstaysespecially in the region of the oven soles. The distortional effect onthe buckstays of all these circumstances is aggravated by the great massboth of the benches and of the heavy operating machinery movedtherealong, and, oc-.- casionally, the results are so serious thatextensive repairs to the brickwork and the buckstays must be undertaken.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide cheap andpractical improvements in the support and design of horizontal-coke-ovenoperating benches whereby the above-recited disadvantages of priorpractice can be in greater part obviated.

The invention has for further objects such other improvements and suchother operative ad-- vantages or results as may be found to obtain inthe processes or apparatus hereinafter described or claimed.

Briefly stated, according to the present invention, the operating benchof a battery of horizontal coke ovens formed of a series of horizontalbeams that are arranged along the battery front in parallelism with thecoking chambers and are supported at their ends by spaced uprights, thecombination forming a series'of stationary gantry-like members. Thoseuprights adjacent the battery-face are disposed intermediately of thebattery buckstays and are preferably supported entirely independentlythereof in spaced relationship to the battery-face with their lower endssupported by some foundation member of the battery; for example, by therefractory mat or by metallic members whereby the mat itself issupported. The individual beams of the said series of gantry-likemembers are spaced themselves either at their lower ends or at pointstherealong nearer such ends than to the ovensoles. This is inconsequence of the fact that the bending moment of the buckstays isgreatest at or adjacent the oven-soles and it decreases as the buckstayends are approached. Thus, if the said battery-face uprights areattached to the buckstays for support, the present invention providesthat their points of attachment be nearer the buckstay lower ends thanto'the oven soles; that is, at points where the buckstay bending momentis lower and a given bench-vibration can be absorbed with lessdeformation to those buckstay. portions adjacent the oven-soles. I

As will be clearly understood from the following description of thepresent improvement, the invention is equally adapted for use incombination with a coke-oven battery of which the supporting-mat restson the ground or with a batsupported on piers, or the like, betweenwhich there are passageways wherethrough the operators can pass to makeadjustments of combustion media delivered to the individual heatingflues from beneath.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification andshowing for purposes of exemplification preferred apparatus in which theinvention may be embodied and practiced but without limiting the claimedinvention specifically to such illustrative instance or instances:

Fig. 1 shows a vertical section taken crosswise of a battery of underjetcoke ovens and through a coking chamber thereof, said battery beingprovided with the improved operating-bench conassist in the support ofthe battery-structure above the said accessible passageways l2, theupper surface of said I-beams resting against the ports the entirebattery-mat II at its lower sur-" face. It might be added that saidlower surface of the mat is in only direct contact with the uppersurfaces of the large and small I-beams, the contact between said matand said beams being such that they are free to expand and contractindependently of each other. Bearing members I [9 included at thejunction between the I-beams struction of the present invention at itscokeside;

Fig. 2 shows in enlargement a composite-side elevational view of thebattery illustrated in Fig. 1, the portion at the right hand thereofshowing the coke-side bench in full and being taken along the line A-Aof Fig. 3, whereas that portion at the left hand illustrates a verticalsection taken and showing constructional details of the cokeside bench;

'Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the coke-side bench of the batteryillustrated in .Fig. 1 and showing in greaterl detail the presentimprovement in constructing the same;

Fig. 4a is an enlarged fragmentary view of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 5 shows the improvement of the invention employed in combinationwith a coke-oven battery of which the supporting-mat is in directcontact with the yard surface.

Referring now to the drawings and more especially to Figs. 1, 2, and 3:the structure of the coke-oven battery therein illustrated is supportedfrom beneath by a plurality of piers ll] of which the lower ends rest onthe concrete foundation I l and, between said piers, there are providedpassageways l2 through which the operator can go from oven to oven toregulate quantities of heating gas delivered to the individual heatingflues of the heating walls and flowed thereto, for example, in seriesfrom rich-gas main l3 into heating-wall headers l4 and thence inindividually regulable quantities through a branch-line l5 upwardly intoa vertical heating flue through 1 coking chambers are the ruggedlE-beams l 6 which I6, l8, serve as additional support for the latter.

At each side of a coking chamber 20 there is a heating wall 2| formed ofmasonry comprising bricks arranged to form vertical heating flues. Ateach end of each heating wall, the masonry is supported in alignmentduring its expansion and contraction by means of a buckstay- 22 formedof a single heavy I-beam that is maintained at a regulable pressure incontact with those metallic flash-plates 41 that provide a protectivecovering for the jamb-bricks which form the heating-wall ends, The topsof the buckstays at opposite ends of the same heating wall are tiedtogether by means comprising a pair of tie-rods 23 that pass through apair of bores in tie-plates 24. By means of nuts 25 arranged to travelon the threaded ends of the tie-rods, the effective length of the latteris variable to adjust to a. preferred pressure the bearing contactbetween a pair of buckstays and their flash plates and thus indirectlyonthe masonry of the flued heating wall therebetween. Spring members 28located between the buckstays and tie-plates 24 serve to permit minorexpansions and contractions of the heating wall without greatly alteringthe compressive'force that an existing buckstay setting impresses on theheating-wall masonry.

The lower ends of the buckstays are each independently afiixed to theconcrete of the battery- 'mat I! by means of anchor-bolts 29 embeddedin.the latter. Between the outer flange of each buckstay and theadjusting nut 30 ofv said anchor-bolt there is placed a spring 3|, oranyother preferred resilient member, that serves the same previouslydescribed purpose as that used in combination with tier0ds 23 at the topof the battery, The buckstays, the masonry of the battery, and thebattery-mat thus comprise a single unit that is freely able to expandand contract above the supporting grid-work formed by I- beams I6, l8

Adjacent their outer ends and extending lengthwise of the battery thereis supported between each of the contiguous transversely-extendingI-beams l6 and to which they are afiixed, a pair of spaced channel-bars21 which is thus structurally disposedto form in effect a pair of spacedchannel-bars coursing from one end of the battery to the other. As isclearly evident in Fig. 2, the lower ends of the buckstays 22 areadapted to rest in slideable contact with said spaced channel-bars 2 1to which they can be adjust-ably afiixed by means of bolts 32 insertedthrough slotted holes that permit limited shiftassaera mediate buckstays33 are rigidly supported against the brickwork of the ends ofregenerator walls, by angle bars 34 that are attached to theintermediate buckstays, and are supported in part by the primarybuckstays 22. At their upper ends the said intermediate buckstays eachdependby bolts from a plate 35 which'itself exbetween said side-supports33 and said I-beams. The outer shorter legs 38 of the. said portalsadjustably rest on individual concrete piers 40 that tends across theinterspace between primary buckstays and has its opposite ends aihxed tothe latter. As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, only the alternateprimary-buckstay interspaces are provided with the said shorterintermediate buckstays. This results from the fact that in theillustrated battery, the cross regenerators are arflanked on either sideby a co-extensive smaller regenerator, such grouping being clearly setforth in Becker U. S. Patent No. 2,015,657, issued October 1, 1935. Theprincipal utility of the intermediate buckstays is supportfor thoseregenerator-walls that are not directly beneath heating walls andconsequently are not directly supported by the primary buckstays. In theconstruction are firmly anchored in the ground. These outer supports 33of the portals 31 are preferably made shorter than those adjacent thebattery front, thereby the better to' resist operating practicescreating horizontal thrusts tending to force the bench away from thebattery face; for example,

the pressure of the door-machine against the oven door when latching itin closed position.

The individual portal members are all rigidly tied together and spacedfrom each other to form for the bench a stable and resistant frameworkthat is entirely out of contact with any of the buckstays of thebattery. At their inner upper parts the various portals areinterconnected by means of channel-bars 4| that extend betweenindividual portals and at their outer upper par they are attached andsupported in vertical positions by a facial channelbar 42 that extendsfrom end to end of the ranged in laterally adjacent groups of which eachI comprises a large intermediate regenerator of the battery illustratedin Figs. 1 to 4, alternate coking chambers have a regenerato'r-walldirectly therebeneath which is provided at both batteryfaces with anabove-described intermediate buckstay. It is of course obvious that inthose structures wherein there is a regenerator-wall beneath each cokingchamber, a said intermediate buckstay 33 will be furnished in each ofthe primarybuckstay interspaces.

The lower edges of the intermediate buckstays are :all disposed in thebattery adjacently above the upper flange of an I-beam I6 and preferablyout of pressure contact therewith.

The coke-oven bench 36 of the present invention is shown at thecoke-side only of the batteries illustrated in the drawings, at whichlocation the benefits to be derived from its novel features are togreater extent realizable because, as is appreciated by those skilled inthe art, the benches at the battery's pusher-machine side are requiredto be of only relatively light construction since the operatingmachinery, such as the pusher and the door machine, are both usuallysupported on trackage at the yard surface and the bench at thatbattery-face is provided principally for the convenience of theattendants.

According to the present novel design for cokeoven benches, they areformed of a series of spaced gantry-shaped members or portals 31,preferably of jointless construction. They are arranged at right anglesto the battery-face and are located intermediate 9. pair of primarybuckstays with the longer of their side-supports 33 themselves supportedimmediately in front of but out of contact with the said intermediatebuckstays 33 and with their lower ends each resting on thatabove-mentioned projection of transverse I-beam i6 which extends beyondthe masonry at the face of the battery and to which said supports areaffixed by bolts inserted through slotted holes in their lower partswhereby a certain amount of relative movement is made possiblebattery-bench.

Also supported by said channel-bars 4|, 42,

are other small channel-bars 43 that are dis-- posed in'alternation withthe said portal members, said channel-bars 43 serving not only toprovide greater stability to the bench structure but also for thesupport of the material comprising the platform thereof and the trackageforthe door machine, and the like.

The platform of the improved coke-oven bench itself comprises a seriesof arcuate metallic strips 44 that each extend between channelbars 4|,42, and are supported at their opposite sides on the lower flanges ofthe horizontal sec-v tion of a portal member 31 andof a channelbar 43.These arcuate strips form a base for the support of the concrete orbituminized aggregate 45 wherein are embedded rails 46 of thedoor-machine trackage.

The material 45 wherein trackage 46 is embedded is supported at thebattery-face by means of angle-bar 48.which has a relatively longervertically-disposed leg and extends between buckstays along the upperflange of a channel-bar 4|.

In order to prevent the falling-of coke breeze and the like between thebuckstays into the alleys and the battery basement where it would have adeleterious effect on the operation of the gas-flow reversing mechanismand the valves of the gas-distribution system of the battery, there .theintermediate buckstays depend and which are themselves supported by theprimary buckstays, a vertically-disposed plate 49 that 'extendsvertically downwardly as a sort of extension of that spillage-plate 50at the bottom of the oven mouth; it does not however make contact with.the upper edge of the angle-bar 48, the joint space therebetween beingcovered by metal strip 5| which depends from the former but is out ofcontact with the latter. v

The contact between the shorter leg or support 39 of each portal member31 and the pier 40 is of a sliding type that is also susceptible ofbeing made a fixed contact, so that any stresses thereon engendered byexpansion or contraction of the I-beams l6, for'example, can becompensated for without distortion of the bench. For this purpose, it ispractical to rest the lower end of the support 39 on a metallic plateand toprovide in the former slotted holes through heat canal and thepiers ll.

coke ovens is shown adapted for use in such of said ovens as have theirsupporting mat in direct contact with the yard surface. In thisflgure,showing diagrammatically the coke-side end of a conventionalcross-regenerative horizontal coke oven, the masonry 55 of a fluedheating wall adjacent a coking chamber located above a. regenerativespace 56, is supported at its each jamb-end by a massive buckstay 51;the lower end of said buckstay being supported 'by anchorrods 58 thatare embedded in the concrete of the battery-supporting mat 59, the upperend being tied to a similar buckstay at the pusherside of the battery bytie-rod G in the usual manner. Springs Bl permit minor expansions andcontractions in the masonry of the heating a practical arrangement isshown for supporting said battery-bench independently oi the batterymatwhereas in the latter the improved bench is supported by an extension ofthe material of the mat itself.

By means of the above-described novel design therefor, it now becomespossible completely to free the buckstays of horizontal coke-ovens or'the stresses and strains caused by the older practice of supporting thegreat weight thereoi at least in part by said buckstays. The improveddesign is advantageously adapted to protect the buckstays fromsubstantially all vibrations and strains incident to the travel ofoven-operating machinery along the bench and also of the cokecakethrough the coke guide, most oisuch shock a being absorbed either by themat or by the benchsupports at their points of minimum movement.

' Instead of operating to augment such forces, for

wall without greatly increasing the tension on I said anchor-rod andtie-rod. The lower end of massive primary buckstay 51 is also slidablysupported on metallic block 62 thereby to increase iacility of movementin response to the pressure of said heating wall and springs, said blockresting on the upper surface of wasteheat canal 63. To counteract anytendency of buckstay 51 to move in a vertical direction, its lower endis adjustably held by means of bolts which are anchored in the concretetherebeneath and co-act with horizontal slottedopenings in saidbuckstays lower end, said bolts and openings being arranged to permithorizontal but not vertical movement of the buckstay.

Smaller intermediate buckstay 64 depends from that plate as which isitself affixed to adjacent massive buckstays 51, the said intermediatebuckstay being held in pressure contact with the regenerator-wall end 68by means of heavy straps 69 that press against those massive buckstaysthat are at each end of said straps. By means of this arrangement theintermediate and massive bu'ckstays are free to move in unison under theinfluence of springs 6|.

In this latter application of the invention, as

hereinabove described in combination with acoke-oven battery of theunderjet type, the present improvement in coke-ovene benches comprises aplurality of portal members 10 that are disposed between the primarybuckstays 51 of the battery and immediately in front of but out ofcontact-with the smaller intermediate buckstays 64, the said portalmembers being supported 1 at the lower ends of their supporting legs bybench of Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, and that of Fig 5 resides in the factthat in the former figures example, as the horizontal thrusts incidentto pushing coke and tightening of the doors, both of which tend in theolder construction to distort the buckstays to force them outward,especially at the coke-side, the independent bench of the improveddesign oifers resistance to limit such detrimental displacement. Afurther advantage resides in the fact that the pressure of the buckstaysprings and buckstays against the battery-masonry may be limited to thatrequired only to maintain a preferred pressure against the masonry.

The invention as hereinabove set forth is embodied in particular formand manner but may claims hereinaiter made.

I claim: 7

1. In a horizontal regenerative coke-oven battery of the underjet typethe combination ofz'a plurality of coking chambers alternating withflued heating walls and having regenerators therebeneath; buckstaymembers adapted to exert pressure against said heating wall-ends,thereby to retain alignment of the heating-wall masonry; a supportingmat for said battery; means for supporting said mat above accessiblepassageways and providing lateral projections that extend beyond themasonry of said battery; and a bench that extends adjacently along .theface of said battery out of contact with said buckstay members and issupported entirely from beneath the platform portion of said bench bymeans comprising a plurality of stationary spaced gantry-like membersthat are adapted to support said bench independently of said buckstaymembers and have their battery-face legs themselves sup rted by saidprojections of said mat-suppor ing means.

2. In a. horizontal regenerative coke-oven battery, the combination of:a plurality of coking chambers alternating with flued heating walls andhaving regenerators therebeneath; buckstay at least the portions of thebuckstay members that are nearer to the soles of said coking chambersthan to the lower ends of the buckstay members by means including aplurality of stationary spaced gantry-like members that are adapted tosupport said bench and have their batteryface legs themselves supportedin the batterystructure nearer to the lower ends of said buckstaysthanto the soles of said coking chambers.

3. In a horizontal regenerative coke-oven battery, the combination of: aplurality of coking chambers alternating with ilued heating Walls andhaving regenerators therebeneath; buckstay members adapted to exertprssure against said heating-wall ends, thereby to retain alignment? ofthe heating-wall masonry; a lower support for said battery havingprojections that extend beyond the masonry of said battery; and a benchthat extends adjacently along the face-of said battery out of contactwith said buckstay members and is supported entirely from beneath theplatform portion of said bench by means comprising a plurality ofstationary spaced gantrylike members that are adapted to support saidbench independently of said buckstay members and have their battery-facelegs themselves supported by said projections of the said lower supportof the battery.

4. In a horizontal regenerative coke-Oven battery, the combination of:aplurality of coking chambers alternating with flued heating walls andhaving regenerators the'rebeneath all supported on a battery supportingmat located below the regenerators; buckstay members adapted to exertpressure against said heating-wall ends, thereby to retain alignment ofthe heating-wall masonry; and a bench that extends adjacently along theface of said battery out of contact with said buckstay members and issupported entirely from beneath the platform portion of said bench bymeans comprising a plurality of stationary spaced gantry-like membersthat are adapted to support said bench independently of said buckstaymembers and have their battery-face legs themselves supported by thebattery-supporting mat independently of said buckstay members.

5. In a horizontal regenerative coke-oven battery, the combination of: aplurality of coking chambers alternating with flued heating wallsi andhaving regenerators therebeneath; buckstay members-adapted toexertpressure against said heating-wallends, thereby to retain alignment ofthe heating-wall masonry; and a bench that extends adjacently along theface of said battery out of contact with said buckstay members and issupported entirely from beneaththe platform portion of said bench bymeans comprising a plurality of stationary spaced gantry-like membersthat are adapted to support said bench independently of said buckstaymembers and have their battery-face legs themselves supported at a levelof the battery adjacent the lower ends of said buckstays. I

6. In a' horizontal regenerative coke-oven battery, the combination of;a plurality of coking chambers alternating with flued heating walls andhaving regenerators therebeneath; buckstay'members adapted to exertpressure against, said heating-wall ends, thereby to retain alignment ofthe heating-mall masonry and having their lower ends at least as low asthe bottoms of the regenerators; and a bench that extends adjacentlyalong the face of said battery out of contact with said buckstay membersand is sup- I tery, the combination of: a pluralitywfcoking chambersalternating with flued heating walls"" r and having regeneratorstherebeneath; buckstay members adapted to exert pressure against saidheating-wall ends, thereby to retain alignment of. the heating-wallmasonry and having their buckstay lower ends at least as low as thebottoms of the regenerators; and a bench that extends adjacently alongthe face of said battery, said bench comprising an operating platlormthat is tension-free and pressure-free of said buckstay members and issupported entirely from beneath by means including a plurality ofstationary spaced gantry-like membersthat are adapted to support saidbench, independently of at least the portions of the buckstay membersthat are nearer to the soles of said coking chambers than to the lowerendsof the buck-stay members and have their battery-face legs themselvessupported in the batterystructure nearer to the lower ends of saidbuckstays than to the soles of said coking chambers.

8. In combination with a horizontal regenerativecokeeoyen battery havingmasonry-retaining buckstays, a stationary operating bench that extendsalong the face of said battery and comprises a platform portiorrthat isout'of'con-- tact with the masonry-retaining buckstays of said batteryand is supported entirely from beneath by means including invertedU-shaped members for which the supports are spaced from the mass ofsaidplatform. I

9. In combinationwith-ahorizontal regenerative coke-oven battery havingmasonry-retaining buckstays, a stationary operating bench that extendsalong the face of said battery and comprises a platform that is out ofcontact with the masonry-retaining buckstays of said battery and issupported'entirely from beneath by means including inverted U-shapedmembers for which the supports are spaced from the mass of said platformnearer the lower ends of said buckstays than to the oven soles of saidbattery.

10. The combination of a regenerative horizontal coke-over battery withregenerators at a level below the level of the soles of the cokingchambers; a vertically-disposed buckstay at its face for retainingbattery-masonry in alignment having a portion of the buckstays extendingfrom the level of a coking chamber sole to at least as low as thebottoms of the regenerators; and along the face of the battery, anoperating bench having a battery-side support that is independent of atleast the portion of the buckstay aboveabout the median point between acokingchamber sole and the lower end of the buckstay, the platformportion of said operating bench being tension-free and pressure-free ofsaid aosam

